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New findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatology, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that brain abnormalities in response to non-painful sensory stimulation may cause the hypersensitivity (increased unpleasantness) that patients experience in response to (‘normally’ non-painful) daily visual, auditory and tactile stimulation.

According to the study, patients reported increased unpleasantness in response to multi-sensory stimulation in daily life activities. Furthermore, the fMRI images displayed reduced activation of both the primary and secondary visual and auditory areas of the brain, and increased activation to visual, auditory and tactile stimulation that patients reported to experience in daily life.

Lead study author, Dr Marina López-Solà from the Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder said, “Our study provides new evidence that fibromyalgia patients display altered central processing in response to multi-sensory stimulation, which are linked to core fibromyalgia symptoms and may be part of the disease pathology. The finding of reduced cortical activation in the visual and auditory brain areas that were associated with patient pain complaints may offer novel targets for neuro-stimulation treatments in fibromyalgia patients.”